Well, here they are. Actual picture of this thing floating.
[8D]
I am very happy overall with the final product. It still needs some tweaking (takes about 5-10gal of water in the bilge on a 8hr trip) and some tidying up. Put the first 2-4hrs on it Friday evening, then a beach day with the (5 days overdue) wife. Sunday my father and I fished comm stripers, and sold 32lb (enough to cover fuel). I am very satisfied, definitely not making money, or setting the world on fire catching fish, but its been my goal all along. Total its got about 12-15 hrs on it after the weekend.
As for fuel burn, from the ramp to sandbar and back my buddys 17ft aquasport w/a freshly rebuilt 115 carb evinrude on it,running 50:1 premix uses 7 gal. My SC (27ft total) with the Honda 250 does the same amount of fuel. [8D]
The boat planes at EXACTLY 4000RPM, and between 16-19pmh. The Vtech kicks in at the same time so I think that has something to do with the SNAP over 4K. Right now top speed is just under 40MPH, at 6000rpm, and it could easily twist 6200RPM. I am going to go with a 14.25X19 3 blade and see what happens, it should put me in the 'happy spot' of 5800-6000RPM. I may end up going to a 4 blade in the long run as it will use the motors Torque more efficiently.
I can say one thing.
ITS GOT A TON OF TORQUE.
Running the boat in the upper end is a little boring over 4000rpm just because its humming along and your talking to the first mate standing next to you. [
]
Coming down off plane the first time everybody looks back to see if its still running, because the water around the boat makes more noise than the motor. At the dock, its almost silent, you can hear the tattletail over the motor.
Hamburger? did you say Hamburger?
Dog is still not thrilled with riding in the boat.
Get me the hell outa here!!
